EARLY MEDIEVAL CARVED STONES PROJECT

Present location: in the HES Visitor Centre at the harbour on Inchcolm.

Evidence for discovery: recorded in the sixteenth century on a knoll near Inchcolm Abbey, at which time it was associated with a standing cross. It remained in situ, lying north-south, until 1993 when it was moved into the Abbey.

Present condition: very weathered.

Description

Carved in relief, the ridge has a distinct convex curve and may have been ornamented, and there are end-beasts with muzzles and ears. The west side has four rows of tegulae above a panel with a central cross with expanded arms, flanked on the left by two pilasters and on the right by three, the pilasters ornamented with interlace (best seen in the RCAHMS superb photographs taken in 2014). The east side has five rows of tegulae above a panel with a central frontal figure grasping a staff or spear in each hand, flanked on the right by one double and one single pilaster with interlace ornament. To the left of the figure the carving is much defaced.

Evidence for discovery: recorded in the sixteenth century on a knoll near Inchcolm Abbey, at which time it was associated with a standing cross. It remained in situ, lying north-south, until 1993 when it was moved into the Abbey.

Present condition: very weathered.

Description

Carved in relief, the ridge has a distinct convex curve and may have been ornamented, and there are end-beasts with muzzles and ears. The west side has four rows of tegulae above a panel with a central cross with expanded arms, flanked on the left by two pilasters and on the right by three, the pilasters ornamented with interlace (best seen in the RCAHMS superb photographs taken in 2014). The east side has five rows of tegulae above a panel with a central frontal figure grasping a staff or spear in each hand, flanked on the right by one double and one single pilaster with interlace ornament. To the left of the figure the carving is much defaced.

NT 1888 8260 To protect the hogback stone from weathering it was decided to move it indoors. In connection with this operation, archaeologists from AOC (Scotland) Ltd excavated an area 5m by 6.5m around the stone. A 16th-century reference mentions a stone cross situated near the hogback. The purpose of the excavation was to determine whether evidence for the cross survived and to examine the immediate environs of the hogback for signs of any associated features.

The stone was lying on subsoil 10cm thick, overlying bedrock. Around the stone were four pits filled with human bones, probably representing reburial of bones found during recent construction work on the island. No features were found which could be related to the monument.